Plastic straining and concomitant microstructure recrystallization of Ni-Cu alloy in the undercooled condition

Microstructure and microtexture of rapidly solidified undercooled Ni-Cu alloys were investigated. The characteristic undercooling of Ni80Cu20 alloy was determined as 45K, 90K and 160K. Dendrite deformation due to rapid solidification led to strong deformation microtexture. Due to recrystallization upon annealing after recalescence, many subgrains were formed in the microstructure. Further, annealing the quenched alloy at 900°, new microtextures and subgrains were formed, which was due to recrystallization and dislocation network rearrangement. The results of comparative experiment proved the recrystallization mechanism of the microstructure refinement in the non-equilibrium solidification structure of the undercooled binary alloy

3D Modeling of the Solidification Structure Evolution of Superalloys in Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing Processes

Recently, a few computational methodologies and algorithms have been developed to simulate the microstructure evolution in powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) processes. However, none of these have attempted to simulate the grain structure evolution in multitrack, multilayer AM components in a fully 3D transient mode and for the entire AM geometry. In this work, a multiscale model, which consists of coupling a transient, discrete-source 3D AM process model with a 3D stochastic solidification structure model, was applied to quickly, efficiently, and accurately predict the grain structure evolution of IN625 alloys during Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). The capabilities of this model include studying the effects of process parameters and part geometry on solidification conditions and their impact on the grain structure formation within multicomponent alloy parts processed via AM. Validation was accomplished based on single-layer LPBF IN625 benchmark experiments, previously performed and analyzed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA. This modeling approach can also be used to quantitatively predict the solidification structure of Ti-6Al-4V alloys in electron beam AM processes.

Microstructure refinement mechanism of undercooled Cu55Ni45alloys

Different undercooling degrees of Cu55Ni45 alloy were obtained by the combination of molten glass purification and cyclic superheating, and the maximum undercooling degree reached 284 K. The microstructure of the alloy was observed by metallographic microscope, and the evolution of microstructure was studied systematically. There are two occasions of grain refinement in the solidification structure of the alloy: one occurs in the case of low undercooling, and the other occurs in the case of high undercooling. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technology was used to analyze the rapid solidification structure under high undercooling. The features of flat polygonal grain boundary, high proportion of twin boundary, and large proportion of large angle grain boundary indicate recrystallization. The change in microhardness of the alloy under different undercooling degrees was studied by microhardness tester. It was found that the average microhardness decreased sharply at high undercooling degrees, which further confirmed the recrystallization of the solidified structure at high undercooling degrees.

Effect of Electric Pulse Treatment on Hot-Dip Aluminizing Coating of Ductile Iron

In this paper, hot-dip aluminizing of ferrite nodular cast iron was carried out after treating liquid aluminum with different electrical pulse parameters. Compared with that of conventional hot-dip aluminizing, the coating structure of the treated sample did not change, the surface was smooth and continuous, and the solidification structure was more uniform. When high voltage and large capacitance were used to treat the liquid aluminum, the thickness and compactness of the coating surface layer increased. The thickness of the alloy layer decreased, and, the compactness and the micro hardness increased, so the electric pulse had a certain inhibition on the formation of the alloy layer. The growth kinetics of the alloy layer showed that the rate-time index decreased from 0.60 for the conventional sample to 0.38 for the electric pulse treated sample. The growth of the alloy layer was controlled by diffusion and interface reaction, but only by diffusion. The AC impedance and polarization curves of the coating showed that the corrosion resistance of hot-dip coating on nodular cast iron was improved by electric pulse treatment.

Microstructure and properties of TiB2-reinforced Ti–35Nb–7Zr–5Ta processed by laser-powder bed fusion

The Ti–35Nb–7Zr–5Ta (wt%, TNZT) alloy was reinforced with TiB2 and synthesized by L-PBF. The relatively small TiB2 particles change the solidification structure from cellular to columnar-dendritic and lead to submicron TiB precipitation in the β matrix. This results in pronounced grain refinement and reduction of texture. However, the microstructure of the additively manufactured TNZT-TiB2 is still different from the as-cast, unreinforced TNZT, which contains equiaxed and randomly oriented grains. The β phase is less stable in the as-cast samples, leading to stress-induced martensitic transformation and recoverable strain of 1.5%. The TNZT with 1 wt% of TiB2 presents significantly higher compressive strength (σYS = 495 MPa) compared to unreinforced samples (σYS = 430 MPa), without sacrificing ductility or altering Young’s modulus (E ≈ 46 GPa). The addition of a small fraction of TiB2 to the TNZT alloy synthesized by L-PBF is a promising alternative for manufacturing sophisticated components for biomedical applications. Graphical abstract

Influence of a High Static Magnetic Field on the Morphology of Primary Al3Fe Phase in Al-3%Fe Alloy

It had been done the experiments of the solidification on Al-Fe alloy under a high static magnetic field (10T). The effect of high magnetic field on the morphology of primary Al3Fe phase in Al-3%Fe alloy solidification structure has been investigated by analyzing the microstructures. The experimental results shew that the variation of the morphology of Al3Fe phase was obvious under a high static magnetic field, and them changed to particle-likes and short needles from needle-likes, and they were arranged in chains along the direction of magnetic field to form oriented layered structure. The critical nucleation work reduced and the nucleation rate increased under the applied field, and the magnetic interaction caused by the field can suppress the growth of needle-like Al3Fe phase, both of them resulted in the particle-likes and short needles grains of primary Al3Fe phase to nucleate and grow preferentially. Under the action of magnetic moment and the magnetic interaction force a high static magnetic field, the grains of Al3Fe rotated and then polymerized, and finally formed chain arrangements and layer structures.